CM YK A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2019 5 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE NORTH Rajasthan has bagged four prizes for its performance under the Na- tional Rural Employment Guaran- tee Scheme. The Union Ministry of Rural De- velopment has especially praised the State’s initiative of geotagging the NREGA works in Kota district. Union Minister of Rural Deve- lopment Narendra Singh Tomar gave away the prizes at a function in New Delhi over the weekend. The prizes were given to the Zila Parishad officials and panchayat representatives of Kota, Dungar- pur, Bhilwara and Jaisalmer dis- tricts. The achievements of the Pan- chayati Raj bodies in the NREGA works included construction of watershed structures and streng- thening of rural infrastructure. Rajasthan bags four prizes for job guarantee scheme Ministry praises geotagging of NREGA works Special Correspondent JAIPUR Haryana Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja on Saturday said the government in Haryana has proved to be a complete fai- lure on all the fronts, result- ing in distress across all sec- tions of society. ‘Farmers suffering’ Ms. Selja said farmers in the State are suffering due to non-procurement of sugar- cane crop besides non-pay- ment of paddy (rice). “Eco- nomic slowdown is causing industries to shut down and unemployment is on the rise. It’s all due to the ill-con- ceived policies of the BJP go- vernment,” she said. “Instead of bringing in in- vestment and opening new industries in the State in the last five years, the industries which were established dur- ing the Congress tenure pre- viously were being shut down. Maurya Industries in Faridabad had shut down recently due to which thou- sands of employees have be- come jobless,” she said. Numerous small and big industries have shut down due to wrong policies and misplaced priorities of the government, Ms. Selja said. ‘Industry also hit’ “Non-procurement of the sugarcane crop and non- payment of dues to the farmers are some of the oth- er issues to which the go- vernment has turned a blind eye. Farmers are being de- liberately harassed over the purchase of sugarcane crop,” she alleged in a state- ment. Ms. Selja said that ear- lier, farmers were harassed during the purchase of pad- dy crop and now they were not being timely paid at ma- ny places in the State. “State government should imme- diately take concrete steps to solve problems being faced by industries and farming community,” she added. Haryana government has failed on all fronts, says Selja ‘BJP’s ill-conceived policies behind economic slowdown’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHANDIGARH Kumari Selja. * FILE PHOTO The Congress will hold a ‘peace march’ here on Sun- day to register its protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, while sending across a mes- sage that the people of all communities in Rajasthan want to live in peace and har- mony. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will lead the march. The march will start from Albert Hall Museum at Ram Niwas Garden and culminate at the Mahatma Gandhi Cir- cle near Rajasthan Universi- ty, covering a distance of about three kilometres. Par- ticipants in a rally of civil rights groups to be organised at the nearby Moti Dungri Road are likely to join the march. Mr. Gehlot told reporters on Saturday that the mem- bers of all communities, tak- ing part in the march, would reject the attempts being made by the BJP to “polarise the society” for its electoral benefit. “The BJP’s top lead- ers are promoting hatred by making announcements for the NRC’s preparation like a threat... we will not allow them to succeed,” he said. Mr. Gehlot said the CAA and the NRC did not deserve to be implemented in the country, as they would tear apart the social fabric and af- fect the entire population. “The failure of the NRC exer- cise in Assam has proved its futility. How can it be imple- mented all over the country?” Demanding an immediate repeal of the CAA, Mr. Gehlot said that Prime Minister Na- rendra Modi should an- nounce that his government at the Centre would move ahead by taking all commun- ities together. He also ex- pressed concern over the continuing violence on the issue in the country. He said several demon- strations were held in Rajas- than and the situation was peaceful, barring a few stray incidents in Bikaner and Jodhpur. He later visited Al- bert Hall and Mahatma Gandhi Circle to review the preparations for the march. ‘Provoking people’ State BJP president Satish Poonia alleged in a state- ment that Mr. Gehlot, who was responsible for main- taining law and order, was himself provoking the peo- ple. “Mr. Gehlot’s decision to hit the roads and lead a march against the CAA amounts to violation of con- stitutional norms. He is chal- lenging an amendment of a law passed by the Parlia- ment.” Cong. peace march in Jaipur today CAA, NRC would tear apart the social fabric of the country, says Ashok Gehlot Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and other Congress leaders at a rally in Jaipur. * FILE PHOTO Restrictions on movement were relaxed for a brief pe- riod on Saturday in parts of Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur city where curfew is in force, the police said. As many as 35 persons have been arrested in con- nection with Friday’s vio- lence, they added. Areas under four police stations here had witnessed stone pelting during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Friday, leaving 20 policemen injured. On Saturday, no violent protests were reported in the city or elsewhere in the State, where restrictions on assembly of more than four people are in place in 44 out of 52 districts. “The period during which curfew was relaxed passed off peacefully as people came out of houses and pur- chased essential commodi- ties,” District Superinten- dent of Police Amit Singh said. Curfew was relaxed from 3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. in Hanu- matal police station area and parts of Adhartal police sta- tion limits. Restrictions were also re- laxed from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in area under Gohalpur police station and parts of Kotwali police station. At least 35 people have been arrested across the State in connection with Fri- day’s violent protests, Mr. Singh said. Under the amended Citi- zenship Act, non-Muslim re- fugees who came to India be- fore December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be granted Indian citizenship. Protests against the law, which critics allege discrimi- nates on the basis of religion, have rapidly spread across the country. Curfew relaxed in Jabalpur 35 arrested in connection with Friday’s violence: police People out on the streets to buy essential goods when curfew was relaxed in Jabalpur on Saturday. * PTI Press Trust of India Jabalpur A contract killer, allegedly hired by the husband of a woman teach- er who was shot dead in front of her five-year-old daughter outside a school in Kharar in Mohali dis- trict earlier this month, was ar- rested on Saturday, police said. Forty-year-old Jaswinder Singh was arrested from Bathinda dis- trict, Mohali Senior Superinten- dent of Police Kuldeep Chahal said. Prime suspect Sarabjit Kaur, in her early 30s, was shot dead when she was park- ing her scooter outside a school in Kharar on December 5. Her hus- band Harvinder Singh was the prime suspect in the murder. Jaswinder, a native of Bathinda, was hired as contract killer alleg- edly by Harvinder for the murder of his wife, the SSP said. Jaswinder was given ₹1 lakh as advance and promised the re- maining ₹5 lakh after the murder, Mr. Chahal said. A .32 bore licensed weapon, cartridges and a four-wheeler used in the crime were also reco- vered from Jaswinder’s posses- sion, he said. The SSP said both Jaswinder and Harvinder knew each other. ‘Out of country’ To a question, he said Harvinder was most probably outside the country and efforts were being made to trace him. Another accomplice of Jaswin- der has been identified and would soon be nabbed, the SSP said. According to police, Kaur, who used to teach Punjabi and French at the private school, had lodged a complaint with police against Har- vinder alleging that he did not tell her about his first marriage. Harvinder had married Sarabjit seven years ago after which they lived in France for some time. Police said the relation bet- ween the two became strained af- ter Sarabjit came to know about Harvinder’s first marriage some time ago. One arrested in Mohali teacher’s murder case He was hired by her husband: police Press Trust of India Chandigarh At least two Pakistani sol- diers were reportedly killed on Saturday as In- dian Army retaliated “ef- fectively and befittingly” to the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Akhnoor and Sunderbani sectors of J&K, Defence sources said. They said Pakistani troops fired on forward posts in Khour and Pallanwalla areas of Akhnoor sector here, prompting strong retalia- tion by the Indian Army. In the morning, the In- dian Army spotted two bo- dies near the LoC, said sources, adding the wire- less intercepts too con- firmed the killing of two Pakistani soldiers. A physical verification, however, could not be car- ried out because of the tense situation along the border, they added. 2 Pak. soldiers killed along LoC in J&K Press Trust of India Jammu Shiromani Akali Dal mem- bers on Saturday staged a protest in Patiala against the Congress government in Punjab, accusing it of failing to curb illegal mining and drugs menace across the State. Akali Dal president Sukh- bir Badal, who led the prot- est in Chief Minister’s home town, alleged that illegal mining activities were ram- pant not just in Patiala but across most parts of the State. “At the behest of Con- gress leaders, illegal mining and business of illegal liquor and drugs are also rising and the local administration was turning a blind eye to- wards these activities,” al- leged Mr. Badal. He added that SAD would not allow the State government to take over ‘Shamlat’ land to hand it over to their favou- rites at throwaway prices. Notably, the cabinet had recently cleared the propo- sal of the Rural Develop- ment and Panchayat De- partment for insertion of Rule 12-B in the Punjab Vil- lage Common Lands (Regu- lation) Rules, 1964, to pro- vide special provision for transfer of ‘Shamlat lands’ (consolidation of landhold- ings for common use) for development of industrial infrastructure projects. Akali Dal stages protest in Patiala over ‘govt. failures’ ‘Illegal mining, liquor have not stopped’ SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHANDIGARH Sukhbir Singh Badal. * FILE PHOTO A special anti-terror court has sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for their alleged roles in the No- vember 2007-twin blast case in the district court premis- es here in which five people were killed and 24 were injured. Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashok Ku- mar, heading the special court set up under the Un- lawful Activities (Preven- tion) Act, pronounced the quantum of sentence amid tight security in the special courtroom in the Faizabad jail. “The special court sen- tenced two persons to life imprisonment and acquitted one on Friday in the 2007 district court serial blast case,” Faizabad Bar Associa- tion president Vijay Bahadur Singh said on Saturday. The two who were sen- tenced are Tariq Quasim and Mohammad Akhtar, while the third accused in the case, Sajjad Ur Rahman, was acquitted due to lack of evidence. A fourth accused, Khalid Mujahid, had died in police custody under suspicious conditions. 5 killed, 24 injured On November 23, 2007, the Faizabad district court had been rocked by two simulta- neous bomb blasts in which five people, including a la- wyer, were killed and 24 oth- ers were injured, seven of them critically. The case was lodged on the complaint of erstwhile Faizabad Bar Association se- cretary Mansur Ilahi and the case was probed by the anti- terrorist squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police. The police had nabbed four persons for their al- leged involvement in the case. It had sent three of them, barring one who died in pol- ice custody, for the trial in the case. The trial in the case was held in a courtroom in Faiza- bad jail premises as the Fia- zabad District Bar Associa- tion had decided neither to represent any of the accused in the blast case, nor let any other lawyer represent them. This had led the erstwhile Chief Minister Mayawati to arrange for the trial in the jail premises to ensure se- curity of lawyers represent- ing the accused. Two get life term for 2007 twin bomb blasts in Faizabad court Third accused was acquitted due to lack of evidence Press Trust of India Faizabad (U.P.) < > A fourth accused, Khalid Mujahid, had died in police custody under suspicious conditions